380 Scientific Intelligence— Zoology. 



June 1822, all on board were struck with the very strong smelj, 

 like that of violets, which, as the day grew more warm, either 

 ceased, or was lost amidst a variety of others, which were per- 

 ceptible as we drew nearer the coast. During a long stay in the 

 interior of this island, I became acquainted with the plant which 

 emits such an intense perfume as to be perceived at the distance 

 of two or three milss. It is of the species Tetracera, and re- 

 markable for bearing leaves so hard that they are used by the 

 native cabinet-makers, and other mechanics, for various kinds of 

 work. It is a climbing plant, which reaches the tops of the 

 loftiest trees of the forest, then spreads far around, and in the 

 rainy seasons is covered with innumerable bunches of sweet- 

 smelling flowers, which, however, dispense their perfume during 

 the night only, and are almost without scent in the daytime.*" 



ZOOLOGY. 



18. Extract of a Letter from M, Gay to M, de Blainville, dated 

 Valdivitty 5th Jidy 1835, regarding the habits of Leeches of 

 Chili, and the tendency exhibited by reptiles in the same country 

 to become viviparous, — It is a remarkable circumstance that here 

 all the leeches live in the woods and never in the water ; and, 

 indeed, I cannot botanise without having my legs injured by 

 their punctures. They crawl on plants, trunks, and shrubs, and 

 never approach marshes or rivers ; and the only one it has been 

 my fortune to discover in such localities, is a very small species 

 of " Branchibolelle^ which lives in the pulmonary cavity of the 

 Auricula Dombeii ; it was in dissecting this molluscous animal 

 that I met with it. In the neighbourhood of Santiago, I have 

 discovered another species, which lives on the gills of the Asta- 

 cus. A fact not less interesting, and which merits your atten- 

 tion, is the tendency exhibited by reptiles to become vivipa- 

 rous in these southern regions. The greater number of those I 

 have dissected presented this remarkable circumstance. Thus, 

 not only the harmless adder of Valdivia gives birth to living 

 young, but also all the beautiful Iguanas allied to the genus 

 Leposoma of Spix, and which, on account of their beautiful co- 

 lours, I have, in the mean time, named chrysosaurus. The 

 species which I have examined, even those which at Santiago 

 deposit eggs, have all, without exception, presented this pheno- 



